


Best Friend

by cybernya



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 00:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cybernya/pseuds/cybernya
Summary: Ennoshita Chikara is Tanaka Ryuunosuke's best friend.





	

Ennoshita Chikara came into Tanaka Ryuunosuke's life towards the end of his third year at junior high. He moved in next door, nearly flipping Tanaka's world upside down.

"Ma! Ma! This is Ennoshita! He lives next door now!" Tanaka gestured one afternoon after barreling into the kitchen. His mother barely looked up from the stove, but nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Ennoshita. Sorry I'm a little busy right now. Ryuu, why don't you two go to the park?"

"Sure ma! Ennoshita says bye, he's just a little shy right now! I'll be back for dinner!"

Only one set of footsteps scampered out of the kitchen.

Ennoshita became a regular guest in the Tanaka household, and no one seemed to question it. It seemed Ryuu's new friend kept him in check and out of more trouble than usual. It was a welcome shift, really, as his grades went up slightly. That little bit was welcome, so as long as it happened, Ennoshita was welcome.

\----

A little later into the school year, Tanaka came home from volleyball practice, dinner on the table like it usually was.

"Ma! Why is nee-san sitting in Chika's seat?" He huffed, face scrunched in irritation. "He's supposed to sit next to me!"

"I thought he would be eating with his own family tonight, Ryuu," his mother said flatly, putting the dishes on the table.

"No! You know Chika is eating with us tonight, he always does on Tuesdays! How could you forget that!"

His mother sighed and motioned for Saeko to move over, who nodded in compliance. Tanaka looked back into the hallway and motioned Ennoshita forward to join them.

Tuesday dinners went off without a hitch after that night.

 

\----

"Yo, Chikara! I can't wait to see the new movie when you're done!" Tanaka exclaimed one afternoon as they walked home from school. "Are you sure you're done after that one?" He paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction. "Exams are coming up, though, so it makes sense. I can't wait to go to Karasuno with you!"

Tanaka cheered slightly as they walked, before correcting himself. "I know, I know, I need to pass the exam first..."

\----

It was two months before graduation when Tanaka heard his parents in the kitchen when he was supposed to be asleep.

"Do you think he'll grow out of it?" His father whispered, sounding annoyed.

"He's still only in junior high. I'm sure it'll be over quickly when he's at Karasuno," his mother reasoned.

Tanaka sat on his bed, wondering what they were talking about. Did they mean his shoes? Or maybe they were talking about some of his clothes. His forehead wrinkled in confusion as he pulled out his cellphone to text Ennoshita. He didn't get a reply immediately, so he rolled over and tried his best to fall asleep. The hours passed by slowly as Tanaka watched his phone, hoping that maybe the faster he’d fall asleep, the faster he’d wake up to Ennoshita’s response. He tapped his stuffed dragon’s nose as he hummed to himself, trying to lull himself to sleep.

He had counted 194 sheep before sleep finally came.

 

\----

Graduation day came faster than anticipated, and Tanaka was graduating junior high. He was looking forward to starting high school, especially with Ennoshita by his side. There was nothing the two of them couldn’t do, especially with the way Tanaka’s grades ended up.

“I told you he’d help me pass! Now we just gotta take on high school!” Tanaka beamed as he sat at the dinner table. Ennoshita was with his own family that night, so there was no one to stop Tanaka from talking.

“Are you sure you still want to play volleyball at Karasuno?” his mother had asked, and Tanaka huffed.

“Of course I do! Me an’ Chikara are going to become vice captain and captain one day!”

His mother nodded, turning her attention back to her food. Karasuno’s volleyball club was flightless, fallen victors in the years since Saeko’s attendance. Tanaka had his heart set on playing for Karasuno, and they weren’t going to stop him.

 

\----  
Tanaka took a deep breath as he looked down at the papers in his hand. He had just filled out the club forms for himself, and had Ennoshita’s too, and was patiently waiting for practice to start. He couldn’t believe that he was actually there, with a few other first years too.

A rather short looking boy walked over to him, hair sticking up in a wild sort of fashion and a large smile on his face. “Where’s your friend?”

Tanaka smiled and pointed towards the changing room. “He’ll be out in a few minutes! He just takes a long time to change.”

“Oh, okay. I didn’t realize there was someone else in there!” the boy nodded, “I’m Nishinoya Yuu, by the way! I’m going to be Karasuno’s best libero!”

“Ooh, very cool! Well, I’m Tanaka Ryuunosuke, and I’m going to be Karasuno’s next ace!” Tanaka beamed, puffing out his chest.

Two of the other first years snickered before carrying on a conversation on their own. Nishinoya narrowed his eyes before turning towards the locker room. “D’you want me to go get your friend? I think the captains will be here soon...”

“Oh! No! E-Ennoshita’ll be fine! I’ll hand his papers in for him if he’s not out on time. I - I wanted to anyway. He might’ve lost it if I let him keep it,” Tanaka reasoned, his grip tightening on the two slips of paper.

“Okay, okay. Didn’t mean to rush your friend.”

One of the second years - slender, with grey hair and a beauty mark under his left eye - cleared his throat as the captains entered the gym, grinning at the new set of prospective players.

 

“Welcome to Karasuno’s volleyball club…”

 

\----

 

The first week of practice went better than the second and third years expected. Nishinoya was proving to be Karasuno’s best libero very quickly, even with the mishaps the other first years caused.

 

“Ennoshita, your ball!” Tanaka called out as they received the ball from the captain’s team. He quickly stepped to avoid colliding, but the ball didn’t quite make it.

“Tanaka, what did we --” Daichi called out, sighing as Asahi began his serve.

“I’m sorry, Sawamura-san! He -- He’s just frustrated!” Tanaka exclaimed, running a hand over his head.

Daichi put his hands up in defense; “Okay, okay. Just -- try harder next time.”

The captain looked at Daichi from across the court and raised a brow; he responded with a shake of his head.

The game soon continued, with Tanaka’s team losing with a score of 24-16. As they cleaned up the gym, Daichi and the captain approached Tanaka.

“Listen, about what happened before when --” the captain started, looking at Daichi.

“I’m sorry!” Tanaka interrupted, bowing quickly, “Ennoshita was frustrated from our other failed receives, and I am too! We’re going to work on them together!”

The two other players exchanged looks.

“He’ll apologize when he comes back from the supply closet! I had him bring a broom back!” Tanaka exclaimed, pointing to the supply closet as he rolled up the net.

“...I don’t know what else to say, other than I hope you work it out. We need to be six on the court --” the captain started before Daichi waved him off.

“Yes, Captain!” Tanaka nodded, running off to return the net.

 

\----

 

Two days later, on their first day back to practice, the new members of the Karasuno volleyball club members were presented with their jackets.

 

“Kiyoko-san!” Nishinoya called out upon seeing her in the gym. She nodded before pulling out the jackets, presenting the captain with the folded pile.

“Wear these with pride!” Daichi called out as he helped pass the jackets around.

“Where’s Ennoshita?” the captain asked, handing Tanaka his jacket.

“Ah -- he’s - he’s sick today. I can bring it to him, though. We live next door,” Tanaka explained, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Oh,” the captain nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. “Make sure it gets to him.”

“Of course, Captain!” Tanaka bowed, taking Ennoshita’s jacket.

Later that night, after proudly showing his jacket off to his family, Tanaka draped Ennoshita’s jacket over his desk chair. He’d been told to bring it over in the morning, before school, as to not disturb his family. It sounded like the right thing to do, Tanaka thought to himself as he hung his own jacket up.

Tanaka fell asleep that night with the biggest smile on his face.

 

\----

 

Saeko snuck into Tanaka’s room one night after he’d fallen asleep, worn out from an intense practice. Ennoshita still hadn’t gotten his jacket, though her little brother swore he gave it to his best friend. She quietly grabbed the jacket from the pile on his desk chair, and tiptoed out of his room.

 

\----

 

Coach Ukai was running the team into the ground - practices were intense. They were running for hours, and practicing diving receives. Many team members sported bruises, especially Nishinoya. Tanaka did as well, though they were mostly focused around his fingers and calves.

“Practice is getting tough, isn’t it!” Tanaka groaned, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“You’d think we’d be some powerhouse school like this,” Narita said, sighing as he took a gulp from his water bottle.

“Well, we could be!” Tanaka beamed, “I mean, the tournament preliminaries are coming up. Do we know what the lineup is?”

“I know Ennoshita is going to be benched,” Kinoshita quipped, huffing slightly.

“Oi! Don’t say it like that! W-We’re all first years! There’s no way we’ll play. Gotta let the third years get their time in! It - It’s like their last tournament, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it will be if we don’t do well. That’s why we have to have such intense practices,” Nishinoya explained, narrowing his eyes at Kinoshita. “Sawamura said we’d get the lineup tomorrow. Who knows!”

Tanaka nodded at Nishinoya before they returned to their practice, turning behind him to wave Ennoshita on.

 

\----

“Sawamura, I’m sorry, but we - we can’t play like this. Not when Tanaka is behaving like this,” the vice captain said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Daichi swallowed. This wasn’t good.

“You have to get him under control. We can’t win if he’s complaining that Ennoshita got benched, and threatening not to play! We need him!”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. We’ll be ready by the tournament,” Daichi explained calmly, taking a deep breath.

\----

“Tanaka, listen --” Daichi starts, gently touching Tanaka on the shoulder. It was just the two of them in the clubroom; the others had left for practice. “I need to talk to you about something…”

“Is it about Ennoshita being benched?!” Tanaka yelled, chest heaving.

“In.. In a way. I’m sorry your friend isn’t playing during these games, but --”

“But what?! Is he not good enough? Does he not practice like the rest of us, getting bruises every day from Coach’s training?!”

“That’s not the point, Tanaka..” Daichi paused, sitting them down. “We can’t let everyone play. You know that. We need you to focus, because you’re strong and a good fit for the team’s we’ll be playing.”

“ -- I’ll talk to Ennoshita, since clearly you or our captain won’t.”

“Tanaka, that’s not what I meant --”

“It’s fine. Let’s just win these next few games.”

 

\----

 

A few days right before the tournament, Daichi found himself at the Tanaka house. His senpai could no longer take dealing with Tanaka, so as the next captain, he took it upon himself to solve the problem. He had to, for the sake of the team.

“Uh - excuse me? Is this the Tanaka residence?” Daichi asked, polite as ever. He was still in his school uniform, bag over his shoulder.

“Yes, yes it is. Can I help you?” Tanaka’s mother nodded as she stood in the doorway, perplexed at the young man on her step.

“My name is Sawamura Daichi - I’m a second year in Karasuno’s volleyball club. I was wondering if I could speak to you for a few minutes? It -- It’s about --”

“Come in, please.”

Daichi entered the house, nervous by how abruptly Tanaka’s mother had cut him off.

“Can I offer you something to drink? Tea?” she offered, motioning for him to take a seat at the kitchen table.

“Tea would be nice, thank you,” Daichi nodded, looking around the kitchen. The tournament was coming quickly, and this had to be understood by then.

“Here,” she smiled, placing two cups of tea down. “Now, you said you were in the volleyball club?”

“Y-Yes. I’m a second year currently, but I am going to be the captain next year.”

“Oh, congratulations! Now, I’m sure you’re here because of Ryuu…”

“Y-Yes, ma’am. I don’t mean to be rude, but… he’s been a bit of a problem, and we’re at a loss on how to handle it.”

“It’s his friend, Ennoshita…” she paused, sighing deeply. “I knew this would become a bigger problem if we didn’t take care of this sooner.”

“Ah --” Daichi shifted in his chair before Tanaka’s mother continued.

“You see, Ennoshita is his imaginary best friend,” she said flatly, “who has been around since junior high. We thought he’d grow out of it by now, to be honest. I’m sorry it’s becoming a problem now, I heard you have a tournament coming up.”

“Junior high…” Daichi whispers, taking a sip of his tea.

“Ennoshita has a place at our dinner table most nights, even though we’ve told Ryuu he should be eating dinner with his own family and not always here,” she continued, looking down at her own cup of tea. “He was a good thing, in the beginning. Kept Ryuu out of trouble, got his grades to come up quite a bit… I’m sorry it’s turning out to be such a problem.”

“I… don’t know what to say, ma’am, other than thank you for explaining this.”

“Please, Sawamura. Don’t be afraid to drop by again if it continues. I hope you liked the tea.”

 

\----

 

Karasuno, unfortunately, lost in the first round of the tournament.

Coach Ukai still kept up the rigorous training even though they had no more games to play in the near future. Many of first years - slowly on their way to becoming second years - quit the team.

 

Including Ennoshita.

 

Tanaka said it was “because he was benched, there was no point in all of these practices.”

 

The other team members exchanged looks, and Daichi looked… confused.

It seemed to be a good thing, though. Tanaka was more focused on practice, and unfortunately, Kiyoko. Thankfully she seemed to handle Nishinoya and Tanaka well, with a perfectly time swat to the head.

The team’s morale improved greatly now that Tanaka was no longer a loose cannon, angry that Ennoshita was not able to play, or something else along that vein.

 

\----

The peace didn’t last long, though. Two months after Ennoshita quit the team, Tanaka came barreling in with ‘good news.’

“He’s back! He didn’t really quit!” he cheered, stepping aside from the door to motion to Ennoshita.

The other teammates stared at him in horror and shock - he was motioning to nothing. How did he not realize that?

 

To Tanaka, everything was right in the world again. His best friend was back on the team.

 

\----

“Daichi, we gotta --”

“I know, Suga. I know. The Inter High is coming up and we.. can’t play like this. Again,” Daichi sighed.

“We gotta have some kind of intervention,” Suga sighed, shaking his head. The third years already said they’re quitting the team because of this. I’m - I’m not sure we can do this without intervening. He - He has to know, Daichi.”

\----

 

Daichi pinched the bridge of his nose before entering the club room, followed by the rest of the team. Tanaka was having a conversation with Ennoshita, waving his hands about.

“Tanaka? Can we talk to you for a moment?” he asked, closing the door behind everyone. They leaned against the lockers on either side, and Daichi stood in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tanaka said, tilting his head.

“We’re.. A little concerned about you.”

“Why?”

The rest of the team looked at each other nervously, and Daichi ran a hand through his hair.

 

“It’s… because of Ennoshita.”

“He’s right here, you know. Don’t be an asshole.”

“That’s exactly why, Tanaka. You have to realize, Ennoshita isn’t real,” Daichi says quietly, biting his lip.

“You’re shitting me, right? He’s right fuckin’ here,” Tanaka snorted, gesturing next to him.

“We’ve been talking with your parents, Tanaka. We’re all worried about you,” Suga chimed in, moving to stand next to Daichi.

“You’re joking, there’s -- there’s no way! Ennoshita is right next to me, you’re saying you can’t see him? That you’re blind?” Tanaka shouted, throwing his arms up in the air. “I can’t believe you’re screwing with me like this! And here I was thinking this was a close-knit team!”

“Tanaka…” Suga sighed, shaking his head, “please, listen to us. Ennoshita - he doesn’t even exist. He’s not registered with the --”

“He’s in class 1-3! He’ll be in 2-3! Ask - Ask anyone else!”

“Tanaka…” Daichi said, sounding like he was on the edge. This was flaring up faster than he expected.

“No! I’m not - I’m not listening to you!” Tanaka screamed, grabbing his bag as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. “E-Ennoshita, l-let’s go home!”

“Daichi, stop him.”

“Suga, I can’t… he won’t listen…” Daichi sighed as Tanaka sprinted out the door, slamming it behind him.

The clubroom felt tense as everyone looked elsewhere, and Suga placed a hand around Daichi.

“It’ll be okay, Daichi. You tried.”

Tanaka sprinted home, barely holding onto his bag.

“Ch-Chikara..” he mumbled under his breath as he finally started to cry, cursing loudly as he turned a corner and nearly fell.

He finally burst into the house, only to be greeted by a nervous looking mother and sister.

“Ryuu! You’re home --"

“C-Chikara, l-let’s…” Tanaka sniffled, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.

His mother and sister exchanged looks, moving to quickly cover what was on the cover. Unfortunately, Tanaka noticed; it was Ennoshita’s jacket.

“W-Why do you have that!?” he shouted, quickly grabbing it off the counter, “I gave that to him months ago!”

“Ryuu --” his mother started, firm as she tried to stop him from moving any further, “we wanted to have your team talk to you --”

“No! Damn it, can’t -- can’t you see him!? He’s right here, and you had the mind to - to steal his jacket?!”

“Ryuu!” Saeko shouted, hoping she would catch his attention. Instead he huffed, tears falling as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

 

Closing the door behind him, he sank down with his back against it. Everyone he loved suddenly couldn't see his best friend; what was wrong with them? Tanaka pulled his knees to his chest, sobbing violently. He pulled the spare jacket to his chest, pressing his face into to the material as tears spilled everywhere.

“Why … Why can’t they see you like I do,” he sobbed, pressing the fabric into his face as he shook.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic came from redamaranth, who based the AU off of the joke that Ennoshita wasn't real, but just a lucid dream our group chat had shared. (Which was the result of many people on omegle thinking I was cosplaying Yuri/Daichi/Kageyama when I was actually Ennoshita.)
> 
> Thank you for letting me write this, Lupin :)
> 
>  
> 
> BONUS PAIN alternate ending line:
> 
> "Why couldn't you be real?"


End file.
